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The state's time to lead on climate change is now

By Marc Breslow and Juliette N. Rooney-Varga

Updated:
04/26/2017 08:53:06 AM EDT

On Saturday, the People's March for climate, jobs and justice will take place in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country, including on the Boston Common, calling for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. Massachusetts is well positioned to lead this critical effort.

The science is clear: a rapid transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean-energy future is needed to avoid dangerous climate change. The good news is that such a transition would also bring benefits to the economy and public health.

While 75 percent of registered voters nationwide support regulation of fossil fuel emissions, Congress has refused to enact science-based climate policies. Also, the Trump administration is moving quickly to reverse policies enacted by the former administration, such as the Clean Power Plan and higher fuel efficiency standards for cars. Further, vested interests who profit from fossil fuels seek to misinform the public, trying to shed doubt on the scientific certainty about human-caused climate change.

In Massachusetts most politicians, including Gov. Charlie Baker, accept climate science and its implications for what must be done to protect our children's futures. Baker has pledged to meet the legal mandates of the state's Global Warming Solutions Act -- reducing our greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050.

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Scientists across the globe agree that the latter target, at a minimum, is essential to slow the rate of change and eventually stabilize the climate. Cutting emissions by 80 percent is a daunting task, but experts worldwide agree that one of the essential policies to get there is to incorporate the true cost of burning fossil fuels into their price. Higher prices will push both energy producers and consumers to move toward renewable energy and energy efficiency and away from fossil fuels.

Clean energy is the fastest growing sector in the commonwealth's economy, increasing its well-paying jobs in our communities by about 12 percent from 2014 to 2015. With policies that foster a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, Massachusetts can show the world that the U.S. is acting on climate while also being a leader in the growing clean energy economy.

Bills pending in the commonwealth's House and Senate, S.1821 by Sen. Mike Barrett, D-Lexington, and H.1726 by Rep. Jennifer Benson, D-Lunenburg, would institute carbon pricing. They would impose fees on imports of fossil fuels but return most or all of the money to households and employers.

S.1821 would return 100 percent of the revenues to households and employers. Each state resident would get an equal rebate, and employers would receive rebates based on their number of employees. Because there is no connection between how much you pay in fees and the size of the rebate, there is a strong incentive to use less fossil fuel. In addition, since energy use generally rises with income, equal rebates mean that on average rebates would exceed fees for low- and moderate-income households, so that they would come out ahead.

H.1726 would rebate 80 percent of the revenues and use 20 percent for a Green Infrastructure Fund, that would award grants to cities, towns, and regional agencies. The money could go to clean energy, public transit, and adaptation to climate change.

Besides Massachusetts, efforts to pass carbon pricing policies are happening in states throughout the country, particularly in the Northeast. Bills are pending in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and are expected to be introduced in New York and Vermont. Our leadership is poised to have a domino effect, despite inaction or worse at the federal level. The time for the Commonwealth to embrace a clean energy future is now.

Marc Breslow, Ph.D. is Policy & Research director of Climate XChange. He was lead author of the state's Clean Energy and Climate Plan issued in 2010. Juliette N. Rooney-Varga, Ph.D., is director of the Climate Change Initiative at UMass Lowell and associate professor of biology.

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